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Reservoir Dogs
Jun. 10th, 2014 04:44 pmIn continuing adventures of watching 90s movies I missed the first time around: Reservoir Dogs. I remember this being such a huge movie. My brother had the poster. Steelers Wheels on the radio all the time.
Perhaps unsurprisingly: I did not like it. I found the violence very distancing. I'd seen bits of and spoofs of the most famous scene before, so the shock value was lessened. Even so, I didn't know much else about it. So things like Tim Roth's protracted screaming just made it a really unpleasant viewing experience over all.
I also thought it was--really amateur? Like, ridiculously self-indulgent. No one but a white man would have made this film. There's both the appropriation of black language and the use of racist language in a way that makes it clear Tarantino feels entitled to write incredibly racist things because art without consideration for the cultural context in which he, and this film, exist. It's also a film that wants to make you conscious of the man behind the camera at all times. The purpose of the film seems to be to point a spotlight on the director and show how clever and edgy he is. And I'm with John Gardner: anything that punctures the fictive dream is a bad thing. I don't want to have a meta awareness when I'm watching a movie; I want to be immersed in.
I found the pacing to be sloppy, too. It's just...flabby. Compared to The Usual Suspects and The Killing, two other noir crime movies, Reservoir Dogs just sort of dicks around. I mean, it felt like watching Tarantino wank.
I know it's his first film, and I liked Pulp Fiction, so I know he gets better, but I really don't think Reservoir Dogs deserves its accolades.
Perhaps unsurprisingly: I did not like it. I found the violence very distancing. I'd seen bits of and spoofs of the most famous scene before, so the shock value was lessened. Even so, I didn't know much else about it. So things like Tim Roth's protracted screaming just made it a really unpleasant viewing experience over all.
I also thought it was--really amateur? Like, ridiculously self-indulgent. No one but a white man would have made this film. There's both the appropriation of black language and the use of racist language in a way that makes it clear Tarantino feels entitled to write incredibly racist things because art without consideration for the cultural context in which he, and this film, exist. It's also a film that wants to make you conscious of the man behind the camera at all times. The purpose of the film seems to be to point a spotlight on the director and show how clever and edgy he is. And I'm with John Gardner: anything that punctures the fictive dream is a bad thing. I don't want to have a meta awareness when I'm watching a movie; I want to be immersed in.
I found the pacing to be sloppy, too. It's just...flabby. Compared to The Usual Suspects and The Killing, two other noir crime movies, Reservoir Dogs just sort of dicks around. I mean, it felt like watching Tarantino wank.
I know it's his first film, and I liked Pulp Fiction, so I know he gets better, but I really don't think Reservoir Dogs deserves its accolades.